MAGNET, an Ohio MEP that recognized the growing need for high school graduates with STEM skills in order to sustain the manufacturing economy in Ohio, created an employer-led pre-apprenticeship program aligned with the Ohio Department of Education College and Career readiness graduation standards, and partnered with local public education and local employers.

While nearly half of high school graduates in 2016 expressed an interest in pursuing STEM majors or careers, just 26 percent of them met a college-readiness benchmark that indicates whether a student is well-prepared for first-year courses such as calculus, biology, chemistry and physics

With every advance in automation and artificial intelligence, the American workplace changes. While changing employment demands are obvious in information technology, they are no less pronounced in energy, health care, manufacturing, and other sectors that have long relied on manual labor.